Sunday, July 8, 2012

All is well

My little family is back together again. Papa is home from the hospital after his emergency surgery and week-long stay. Sylvia is back from spending a fun-filled week with my parents, and oh, life, is coming back into all of its usual chaotic glory. The girls spent the better part of a day being "proper ladies". Apparently proper ladies only open their eyes half-way, and they learn French, and take an evening stroll around the property to improve their constitutions.

I usually spend almost exactly no time at all editing photos beyond the occasional crop, but I couldn't resist playing around with the different filters on my photo editor for these.

Don't you just love when a book captures your child's imagination and takes them off on a grand adventure? Camille has been listening to the Bloody Jack series about a young orphan girl who disguises herself as a boy to work on a ship in the late 18th century. It's a pretty rowdy series. I think it's recommended for ages 12 and up, but she is loving it. In the second book, Curse of the Blue Tattoo, they send Jacky to a boarding school to make a proper lady out of her. Camille is now into the third book, but so far the conversations and tangents that have come up from this series are deep and wide. Women's rights (right to own property, to go out in public unattended, etc). Clothing options (Can you imagine being arrested for showing your knees?). French. Table manners. "Mom, what's a shiv?" Nautical terms. Napoleon. Self-defense. And more. So. Much. More.

Plus Ayla runs around now saying in her best 2-year-old voice, "I be a proper lady." Undeniably cute.

4 comments:

Am a new reader to your blog (linked through from Helena at loving to learn). Beautiful pictures, looks like your girls are "proper ladies" from a different era! Will have to check out the "bloody Jack" series, sounds like the type of thing my Zack would love. Also, happy for you that your family are back together again, absence (and especially illness)really make you appreciate what being a family means. xx

Thanks all! I should warn you that there is some fighting, mild swearing, and bawdy moments in that series, but the reader, Katherine Kellgren, does a phenomenal job of the accents in the audio version.

About Me

I am Nikole, mama to three lovely and lively kiddos. Cam is 14 years old, Sylvi is 11, and Ayla is 8. This blog is generally a chronicle of our country-living, respectful-parenting, joy-seeking, radical-unschooling life. It is a swirl of fun, learning, and creativity, all in a ragamuffin style ;-)